fatscoobfella1

iTrader: (1)

Any help here appreciated..

We live in a stone cottage,its approx 200 years old.

The walls are around 18"-20" thick and there is no cavity..

The problem we have is damp patches(internally) on the gable end of our property.The gable end faces onto a neighbours garden,so it overlooks them.
The gable end has a vine creeper approx 50% over the full spread ,this is suspended on a metal wire "frame" if you like.The frame is suspended on eye hooks screwed into the mortar.This was done by the neighbours approx 10yrs ago before we bought the house..It is all quite lightweight,but im trying to get as much detail in as possible.

Also,our neighbour has earth with flowers and a water feature,piled up against out gable end in a bottom corner,i would guess it comes up between 2-3ft up the outer stone wall..
Now,above this is where the damp patches are.A couple approx 5-6ft up the wall,and then some in the bedroom approx 10-12 ft up from the soil..

Can the damp in the soil use a capilliary action and move up between the mortar??
Can the screw "eye" hooks,being screwed into the mortar compromise its ability to repel the damp ??

As you can see,i know nothing of houses and how these things work..

Any help greatly appreciated..

r32

I thought that they need permission to fasten anything to your property?

fatscoobfella1

iTrader: (1)

Yea probably do.. Like i say though,it was like this when we bought the house.Its been up 10 yrs or so.If the framework needs to come down,i will make them do it..
On the other hand.I dont want to have them take everything away,and it still be the same.

Nimbus

Are the external wall rendered? If not, it could just but that the (lime?) mortar needs replacing. We have a brick house which sufferers from the same problem on one particular wall (which is quite exposed to the elements). We just need to get around to re-pointing the effected areas.

alanbell

iTrader: (6)

its the soil backed up against your stone , it will pull the moisture from the soil, it needs pulling back and tanking. then the soil can go back.

OllyK

The first questions is, does it have a Damp Proof Course. It may be a row of blue engineering bricks or sometimes some bits of slate. If it's been done more recently then there may be signs of drill holes in the bricks about 6-12" up from ground level.

If you do have a DPC the next question is if the soil next door is piled up above it, if it is, they need to reduce the height to get it below the DPC.

Also with creepers they can do untold damage to the mortar beds, your neighbour should allow you access to inspect your property so pull the creeper back and inspect the mortar underneath, if it's crumbling or very deep (i.e. it's already corroded) then get them to take the plant down.

fatscoobfella1

iTrader: (1)

Thanks for the info so far guys..

Yes the house does have a damp course,there is evidence of the stone at the base of the house being drilled and plugged.
Im pretty sure the soil and earth does go above the level of the damp course though.
Our neighbour will allow access,that isnt a problem really..But i would like to present him with facts about what is going on by what the soil and creeper is doing..

Olly..Where abouts in Derbyshire are you BTW ?? Are you a builder?

alanbell

iTrader: (6)

the soil will be bridging the dpc , (going over it )

mykp

you did say one of the damp spots is 10ft-12ft up.

Thats wont be coming from the ground outside as rising damp typically only will rise about 1 metre from any affected areas and you would probably notice this across the wall.

I would be looking outside at the fixings to the wall to see if the fixings of this frame are in similair positions or even above where the holes are as penetrating damp is a more likely explaination. If so then the fixings are allowing water to pass through the render and into the porperty.

I would also look at the roof to see if there is any water coming in here. I used to live in a 600 year old house and we had a massive damp patch in our kitchen about 7 feet up, this was actually water coming in through the roof and running through tiny holes in the motar inside until it collected at a weak spot. We fixed the roof and within 4 months the patch was dry.

If your house is 200 years old I am doubting whether it will have a damp course and even then it would be very redimentary and will probably consist of pitch tar and if it has its probably long past its usefulness date, if you bought the house recently what did your surveyor say? as any problems with the DPC should have been in the survey or did you only get a home buyers survey?

OllyK

Not a builder, but have spent the last 4 years restoring my house in my spare time, pretty much gutted it and built it back up.

I live near Eastwood.

stoneface

iTrader: (6)

As mykp has stated very unlikely for damp to rise more a metre. Will be coming from fixing holes, cracked render/pointing etc or above from leaking roof.

al4x1

I've got a similar kind of house, the damp low down will be caused by the soil / water features heaped up against the wall, higher patches could be due to the screw fixings / creeper directing water against the wall or possibly water leaking from the roof / gutters. You do nead to clear the creeper ideally and remove the soil. Best option would be what I believe is a french drain which basically is a piece of soil draining pipe laid in gravel in a trence along the wall of the house so water is taken away.

If you can see drill / fill marks arround the house then it sounds like its had an injected damp proof course at some point which may / may not have broken down or be being bridged. With old houses they were made to breathe so an added DPC mucks that up causing some funny effects as water can't rise but it does stop it going down as well. I'd avoid tankings etc just because they lock water in as well as out and on old buildings can cause more problems.

Other options are to install a vapour membrane inside and plaster board over it which will cure the problem quite easily and can be combined with insulated board to improve the house insulation. I've gone down this route where I've a neighbours garden well over the DPC on a newer part of the house and so far so good not a sign of problems .

speedking

Perspective check.

If the walls are 18-20" thick then the fixings for the frame would have to be very deep to initiate a damp problem. I doubt they are the cause of the problem.

However the covering of foliage will prevent the sun and wind from reaching the wall so reducing the drying effect. Personally I would not like plants growing up the house, even on a frame. Conversely the protection afforded by the plants could reduce the amount of rain hitting the wall!

You definitely need to get the soil reduced to at least 6" below the DPC.

Check all your gutters and downpipes before looking at more radical solutions for the higher damp patch.

fatscoobfella1

iTrader: (1)

Hi guys,

Thanx for all the info..

Just to address a few points..The roof is in good order,it had a little reslating done last year,due to a few being cracked and chipped.
The gutters are also fine,there drop is a little shallow,but there free of debri and work fine,if not brilliantly.
The wall isnt rendered and we do have a DPC..

What im thinking about the creeper is...
In winter the creeper has weedy thin branches that offer no protection whatsover to the stonework.The wall obviously gets wet in the driving wind and rain.In summer it is full of leaves,foliage and flowers,this does protect the wall,but from sun and dry wind..
SO... its getting very wet in winter,but is not having the chance to dry in spring/summer because the dense foliage is covering a majority of the wall..

This is just my thoughts of course,i could be very wrong!!

richardg

that's not really a fix for this situation - although it should disguise any problems internally...and i'd double check the soil bridging your dpc if i were you al4x

previous references on this thread to tanking may not necessarily refer to what an engineer would call "tanking". one "tanking-type" option is to pull the soil away from the external face of the building, add a plastic sheet (dpm visqueen type sheeting available from travis, jewson, wickes, probably b&q etc etc) and fix it to the wall well above the top of the soil. you could rake out some mortar and then repoint with the sheeting tucked in. this may not look great (sheeting is usually blue), but once the plants are in it won't be so obvious. you should also confirm the detail of your conversations and what/how you agree to tackle things in writing for your protection and your neighbour's.

HTH

PS - I'm a chartered surveyor/property developer.

fatscoobfella1

iTrader: (1)

Thanks for that Richard..

I am sure anything that i suggest he will be more than happy to try..

It has been suggested i tell my house insurer and they will send a surveyer to access the damage.I guess that if the creeper,heaped soil is causing the damage the costs of geting things sorted will cross over to my neighbour..

If this does happen,i guess its where the situation may get a bit sticky!!